Some question whether journalist Hastings' crash an accident

UNDATED (CNN) -- New questions are popping up online about the accident that killed a well-known journalist earlier this week. Michael Hastings was known for his controversial coverage of high-profile military officials. Now some people are wondering if his fatal crash was really accident.

Three years before a horrific car crash took his life, journalist Michael Hastings wrote an award-winning, but still controversial, article about General Stanley McChrystal for Rolling Stone.

"The Runaway General" quoted the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan making disrespectful remarks about Vice President Biden and other civilian leaders that ultimately ended the general's army career.

Hastings' penchant for unvarnished criticism of military authorities clearly evident when he and Piers Morgan discussed the sex scandal involving another discredited general, McChrystal's successor David Petraeus. Hastings said, "I think there are many other reasons that Petraeus should have resigned besides who he's sleeping with that's not his wife."

Now, conspiracy theories about Hastings' death are spreading online, especially after this tweet from Wikileaks reading "Michael Hastings contacted Wikileaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him."

Los Angeles police are investigating the cause of the crash, which happened early Tuesday morning in a high-priced residential neighborhood. Even at this makeshift memorial, there are questions about Hasting's death. This card reads, 'I hope your death was an accident and not caused by those who don't like you.'

A freelance photographer's dash-cam captured images of the Mercedes speeding through an intersection and minutes later, what was left after it slammed into a palm tree and burst into flames. Near the burning car was a beer bottle.

Further away, the car's transmission, which has fueled speculation on-line that the vehicle could have exploded before impact.

CNN's efforts to contact Wikileaks' attorney have been unsuccessful. The FBI says at no time was Hastings ever under investigation. And Los Angeles police won't discuss their investigation.